Police looking at Gaithersburg condo explosion as possible 'criminal, intentional act' after body recovered
BALTIMORE -- Rescue crews recovered a body one day after a condominium complex explosion in Montgomery County, and the police chief said he is launching a criminal investigation into the incident that left at least 14 people injured.
#Breaking: 1 body has been located in the Gaithersburg condo building that exploded; police now say this is a criminal investigation. @wjz
— Mike Hellgren (@HellgrenWJZ) November 17, 2022
"We are looking into the possibility of this as a criminal, intentional act. We don't know that for sure. We have a lot of work to do," said Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones at a news conference Thursday evening.
Chief Jones said they are looking into whether the person is a "resident or a visitor." The body has been transported to the medical examiner's office in Baltimore City where they hope to have a positive identification by Friday.
Jones stressed police have "limited" information at this point.
A resident of the Gaithersburg apartment complex shared this video taken shortly after the fire started. @wjz pic.twitter.com/a07Bd59MFy
— Mike Hellgren (@HellgrenWJZ) November 16, 2022
Fire Chief Scott Goldstein said a K9 working on the site "alerted on top of the pile" of debris at building 826 at the Potomac Oaks condominiums. He said work would continue at the site Friday.
Earlier in the day, Goldstein said nine of the ten people originally hospitalized had been discharged.
The explosion happened just before 9 am Wednesday, and people inundated 911 with calls.
Our disaster action team members continue to support those impacted by a tragic multi-family fire apartment building Gaithersburg. Trained volunteers are providing essential services-including food, water, financial resources & emotional support. For help call 1-800 RED CROSS pic.twitter.com/ihm3VX1Vk2
— Red Cross NCGC (@RedCrossNCGC) November 16, 2022
WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren spoke to Iris Nolasco who owns a unit on the ground floor of the building that was nearly leveled by the explosion. She said her daughter barely made it out alive, and she now only has the clothes on her back.
"My daughter tells me, 'I don't have the chance to put the shoes on, just get the baby, and she don't have a sweater or anything," Nolasco said.
Iris Nolasco spoke to us after losing nearly everything in the Gaithersburg condo explosion. She has just the clothes on her back. But her daughter and 3-month-old granddaughter survived. She says her daughter called 911 and reported smelling gas twice in the past 2 weeks. @wjz pic.twitter.com/tXY1dot97g
— Mike Hellgren (@HellgrenWJZ) November 17, 2022
A fund has been set up to help those who have lost their homes. You can find more information here.
Fire officials have yet to determine the cause. Baltimore's ATF office is involved in the investigation along with the Major Crimes Division of the county's police department.
ATF Special Agent Certified Fire Investigators are on scene to assist our Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service partners at the site of a building explosion in Gaithersburg, MD that injured 12 people. Direct media inquiries to @mcfrs & follow @mcfrsPIO for updates. 📸 @mcfrs pic.twitter.com/SmE5Kjks5a
— ATF Baltimore (@ATFBaltimore) November 16, 2022
County officials said they will hold another briefing Friday afternoon and WJZ will update the story on air, online and streaming at CBS News Baltimore.